Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-14-Speech-2-114"
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"en.20040914.9.2-114"2
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".
Mr President, it is with considerable pleasure that I can inform you and Parliament that the Commission has today adopted a proposal that modifies national regimes of design protection so as to liberalise the secondary market in spare parts for repair purposes.
Following the opinion of this Parliament in favour of liberalisation, the Commission attempted to harmonise and liberalise the market before, in 1996. Member States, however, were at that time not able to agree with a view shared by the Commission and this Parliament. Instead they requested that the Commission revisit the subject at a later date, which is what we have done.
The proposal, which is of particular importance to the market in automobiles, would remove internal market barriers that have thus far remained. It would allow independent parts manufacturers to compete throughout the EU market for visible, 'must-match' replacement parts, such as bonnets, bumpers, doors, lamps, windscreens and wings. They must match the spare part produced by the manufacturer: in looks they must be identical. Potentially that market is worth billions of euros. Opinions differ as to the amount: the manufacturers themselves estimate EUR 2.5 billion per year, others EUR 10 billion.
Non-visible parts - e.g. engine parts or mechanical parts - are not affected by this proposal, neither are components in new vehicles, i.e. the primary market is not affected. We are talking here about the repair market. Therefore, at most, only 25% of the entire spare-part market will be affected. However, the proposal will give significant benefits to that part of the market. Firstly, it would give consumers better choice and value when they buy spare parts. The Commission estimates that spare parts are 6-10% more expensive in Member States where they are subject to design protection. People are entitled to value for money throughout the life of a vehicle, and this proposal will help them get it.
Secondly, on employment, liberalisation should have a positive net impact on EU jobs, benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises in particular. New jobs ought to be created by the growth of the market, in both the production and distribution of spare parts. EU parts manufacturers will be able to produce in the European Union parts for supplying import and export markets. Car makers from Japan or any other third country manufacturing or selling in the European Union would no longer be able to keep EU producers out of the market.
Thirdly, Europe's competitiveness would benefit. The lack of harmonised rules is burdensome for companies. Independent parts manufacturers remain squeezed out of the market for visible replacement parts in many Member States. Under the proposal, car manufacturers would, moreover, retain full and exclusive rights covering the use of designs for the production and sale of new vehicles. That should be sufficient to reward their investment in design and to maintain a strong incentive to innovate.
Fourthly and finally, a remark on safety. The liberalisation of design protection for replacement car parts has no impact on safety. Design protection covers only the outward appearance of products. The proposal would therefore not affect the safety or quality of spare parts. Safety standards, moreover, are governed by other EU and national laws. They set objective minimum standards for all spare parts. All producers would continue to have to respect these. The Commission, independently of the adoption of the proposal today, will undertake a study to ensure that all safety concerns will be addressed by those directives.
As Members will be aware, the proposal has been the subject of intense lobbying on the part of car manufacturers, who are about to turn the full focus of their attention on Members of this Parliament. Their campaign has been a classic example of the narrow vested interests of the few, namely a handful of large car manufacturers with huge resources trying to undermine the broader interests of the many, namely car owners, throughout Europe.
I appeal to Members of this Parliament to stand firm as the Commission has done. After all, the Commission's proposal strikes the right balance. It protects the advantages of design protection where it matters, which is in the primary market for new cars; but it also makes sure that goods can move freely throughout the European Union and that competition is not distorted by indefensible monopolies."@en1
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